


Book Club

by KingHorseHead



Series: Jaune the Ladykiller [3]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff, Knightshade
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-11-17 19:23:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18104858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingHorseHead/pseuds/KingHorseHead
Summary: Jaune and Blake got off to a pretty good start the first night at Beacon Academy. Drawn together by their love of books and stories, Blake starts to find out that Jaune's own life is much like a book full of twists, turns, and dark secrets. When things get out of hand and truths begin to surface, how will things change when word gets out about a certain someone lying their way into school?





	1. Semester one, Semester fun

Book Club

The first day of school as exciting for one Jaune Arc. He got to ride in an airship and threw up all over someone's shoes, he made a friend, listened to a nice speech, and he wandered the campus without any idea of where he was going. It was fun. But the fun didn't simply stop with the day's activities. 

As night came, all of the new students were ordered to sleep in the ballroom. They weren't quite students yet, and those who passed the rumors of initiation were allowed a bed to sleep on. What happened to those that didn't pass? Jaune didn't know.

He had heard conflicting stories as he attempted to ask around, but nobody could take him seriously as he sauntered around in a baby blue onsie. Not many people wanted to even be seen around him, those that did were lacking the answers that he sought. 

"Yeah, I haven't heard anything. None of the upperclassmen are telling us anything." Ruby Rose, Jaune's first friend at Beacon, answered him with a sigh. 

Jaune took a breath and looked around. Of course not. Nobody wanted to talk to the fifteen year old girl or the young man in pajamas. 

"But," Ruby looked around the area for someone she had just spoken to. "Maybe Blake knows."

"Blake?" Jaune tipped his head.

Ruby, with a nod of her head and a point of her finger, directed Jaune to Blake Belladonna, one of the quietest people Ruby had yet to meet at school.

Ruby had spoken to Blake only a few minutes before Jaune had approached her, and seeing the young girl with the red highlights in her pitch black hair was not not something she exactly thought was a good thing. Just over the top of her book she could see Ruby and someone else walking over to her. She twitched slightly, trying her hardest to hide her annoyance by keeping behind her book.

Jaune might not have been the brightest star in the night sky, but even he could tell that Blake didn't want to be there by how she sank further into her book as the two approached.

"Hey, Blake?" Ruby stood on her toes and smiled sweetly to Blake. "We were just wondering if you had any idea of what we were going to be doing tomorrow. Everyone's saying there's initiation, but nobody's saying what it is."

Blake did not reply in a timely fashion. If anything, she hoped that her silence and devotion to her book would get Ruby to notice that she wasn't in a talking mood. 

The minute was drowned in silence. Ruby still held a hopeful grin that Blake might know a little more than the two of them, but the answer that Blake eventually gave provided them with nothing. 

"No," Was the simple reply. Her eyes didn't leave the pages. "I'm much too interested in my book to be keeping an ear out for rumors." Her tone was dismissive, but her efforts to get the two to go away didn't seem to be working at all. 

Jaune peered at the book in Blake's thin, pale hands. The Shadow of Eternity, The book was called. His eyes widened and his gaze focused. He was very aware of this book and its contents. Not only was he aware of the one book, but the whole Eternity series and the author who wrote them. 

"So... Do you read some of her other stuff? Or just... That series?" Jaune could see the signs that Blake didn't exactly want to talk to them, but strangers were just friends you haven't made yet.

That got her attention. Blake lowered the book and raised her eyes at Jaune. Her eyebrows knit together in suspicion and curiosity. Of course the name of the book and its author were on the spine of the book, which was easily presented to Ruby and Jaune. Maybe he was just trying to talk her up. "Excuse me?" 

"Uh, yeah," Jaune stuttered. "The Eternity Books. I liked the first couple, but all of her other books were a little... much for me." His voice softened, his eyes looked away and a tint covered his cheeks. The same author was responsible for books like Ninjas of Love and Slave to the Sword. At least the Eternity series was a little more plot oriented than the other novels.

Again, Blake took her time in coming up with a reply to them. "You've read Patty Berdioler's other books? I didn't think guys would be interested in her stuff." It took sheer willpower to keep a straight face while talking about her book in front of someone so young. Jaune appeared more her age, but it was clear by the blank looks back and forth that Ruby had no idea what was going on. 

Jaune chuckled. "Yeah. Well, my sister needed someone to talk about them with, so I read the books with her." As he grew more and more nervous, his hand reached up to rub the back of his neck before realizing the implications of what he had said. "Wait, no!" He shoved both hands in front of himself. "Not all of them! She just got me- I mean, I only read the- we only-"

At this, Blake couldn't help but stifle a chuckle at the young man. Reading the book in her hands, she understood what he meant. Burdioler was well known for fairytale esque books like the one in her hands, but her writing prowess did not stop at sweeping fantasy and fables. Lesser known were her more intimate books. 

"I'm rereading the series." She set her book down and looked at Jaune with her glowing amber eyes. "I brought a few books with me, but I always come back to this one."

A minute was needed to calm down, but Jaune was thankful that Blake understood what he meant despite the poor choice of words. 

"Well, like my mom always says," Jaune pointed a finger into the air, getting a laugh from Ruby. "A book is like a piece of art for your brain."

Blake nodded sagely and picked her book back up and picked up where she left off. Ruby was kind, hopeful, and optimistic, and Jaune seemed to have a similar shine to him. Maybe it wouldn't be all that bad if she were on a team with such bright people. 

As young as Ruby was and as simple as Jaune appeared, they were both here at Beacon, going through Initiation just like her. They had to have some skill in order to even get here in the first place.

 

* * *

 

Week one, done. 

After what had seemed to be the most stressful week of his life, Jaune Arc finally had time to wind down and settle into being at school. No more being shot into the air and fighting dangerous monsters, now he could sit in class and read about people who flew through the air and fought dangerous monsters. 

Though you wouldn’t expect it, Professor Port’s class was one of Jaune’s favorites. Stories about heroes and adventurers that went against all odds to protect people and do what was right. Men and women who fought for the ones they loved and people they didn’t even know against an evil that threatened them. Of course it was just world history, but sometimes the stories in his comic books didn’t quite compare to those that actually happened. 

He glanced over to his teammates, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora. Friends, he started to call them after a week in, but he still didn’t believe that he was the right one to lead the team. Pyrrha was so smart and capable, as was Ren, but Ozpin picked him as if he drew a name out of a hat. 

A glance took him to team RWBY. Ruby and her sister Yang didn’t seem all that interested in the class, but the other two did take some interest in varying ways. Weiss, the heir to the Schnee Dust Company, was meticulously taking notes on the most recent story that Professor Port was spouting, while Blake seemed to hang off of every word that the older gentleman said. 

“And so, Matthias the wise said  _ begone from this land, foul demon of Grimm! _ As he amassed his companions to battle against the creatures of darkness in one of the largest battles in history. Since then, no army of Grimm has ever been seen to have been that large, but if it can happen once, it can happen again, so we wait in preparation for the day that-”

And as the story began to die down, the bell rang, signalling the end of class. The new students were getting used to this. Port would often go on tangents and further take himself away from the lesson to impart his young students with stories and lessons from heroes of old. As the class gathered their things and prepared for their next class, Professor Port cleared his throat and looked at the students stepping down from their seats. 

“Now everyone, please go over the work and make sure you study for the first test of the year!” He could hear the collective groans from those around him. “Don’t worry too much, this is simply an evaluation test to see how much you know already and what you’ve picked up from my class so far. Enjoy the rest of your days, students!”

Outside the classroom, where Blake was waiting for the rest of her team, Jaune popped out of the room and gave his dorm-neighbor a smile. “Some story, right?”

Blake nodded with a calm smile on her face, but offered no words to the young knight in training. 

“I hope they talk about my family. We were pretty war-famous back in the day for saving people like that Matthias guy.” With a hearty grin, Jaune pointed to himself with his thumb and flexed the infantile beginning of what could one day be considered a bicep. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll be a famous war hero one day, too.”

Blake had almost forgotten that Jaune’s family was that of minor nobility. Apparently he came from the east of Solas, close enough to make often trips to continent of Anima on the regular. She didn’t prey all that much, it was just information she had gathered from listening to Jaune as he mentioned his home and family. 

“Well, you have to survive a war to be a war hero.” She commented, her eyes drifting away from Jaune and back to the door frame. She only hoped that the White Fang would back down and embrace their old ways. She didn’t want another war. 

With both teams coming through the doors, chatting to one another and entering the hallways, Blake and Jaune joined the large group for the few minutes they had between classes. 

One of the big things about living as a team of four was that outside friends weren’t exactly all that common. Of course you would make a few friends here and there that extended beyond your team, but you were already assigned a circle of friends during initiation. There was little need or desire to go and meet more people. Blake seemed content with this fact. It was only by chance that Jaune and Ruby made friends out of one another before the teams were put together, and even crazier that the two teams were living in neighboring rooms. Jaune, however, seemed to want to make more friends. Not just female friends in an attempt to date them, but just friends in general. The first day was more than enough to shake him of that sort of attitude for the most part. 

“So, Weiss.” Jaune grinned like a cat and slid away from Blake and over to Weiss. She groaned at the sound of her own name and the sight of Jaune getting near her. “Wanna go out on the town this weekend? We could see the sights, get something to eat, maybe a movie?”

She folded her arms and rolled her eyes away from Jaune. From the moment she met him, she never had a very high opinion of the young man, but every attempt to court her just made him more and more annoying. “No,” Came her low yet clear response. “You couldn’t afford a date with me, not that I’d go on with you anyways.”

In some ways, Blake had to give Jaune a little respect. He didn’t seem to be interested in Weiss because of her money or family name, but the poor young man needed to learn to take no for an answer. 

But something caught Blake’s eye when watching Jaune. It was normal for him to falter and deflate after being told off by Weiss, but there seemed to be a bit of shock that went through him as she gave him her reply. He didn’t bounce back quite as quickly as he normally did. 

And this wouldn’t be the last time that Blake would notice this about Jaune. 

Whenever they shared classes, whenever someone brought something up that would be assumed to be common knowledge to any aspiring hunstman or huntress, Jaune would react the same. Aura, Semblances, even information about some grimm, it was almost like Jaune wasn’t aware of it until the moment it was uttered in the class.

 

* * *

 

“Jaune?” Blake knocked on the door to Jaune’s room and peaked her head in. She could have sworn that she had seen him walking through this way, but he was nowhere to be found. Never would be cease to be surprised by how tidy and organized Jaune’s room was compared to the one that Blake shared with Ruby, Weiss, and Yang. 

One bed stood out among the rest, however. Covered in an assortment of thin notebooks was Jaune’s bed, easily identifiable by his personal symbol sketched into the front of ever book along with a number. 

What could be be doing with so many books? Why were there so many? Blake had to have counted at least eight on his bed, and the more she stared at them, the closer she became until a thumb rested on one of the brown notebooks.

“Jaune?” She whispered to herself. There was nobody around. None in sight and none within an audible distance. She told herself that she shouldn’t go through Jaune’s things, but her curiosity got the best of her. They were now only a few weeks in to the semester. When did Jaune have the time to fill out so many notebooks?

When indeed, she asked herself again as her eyes trailed the pages. Top to bottom the book was filled with notes and sketches about class. More importantly, it wasn’t just about class, but all of the questions Blake had heard Jaune ask and so many more that she assumed he had when they weren’t sharing a class. How Aura worked, what a Semblance was, details and findings on the Grimm, important battles and notable figures. Jaune really was taking his schooling seriously.

She knew that Jaune was getting a minor reputation as a man who didn’t know much of anything. Weiss had commented more than once about how she didn’t believe that Jaune should be at Beacon due to his lackluster battle talent and lack of practical skill or talent. She wished she could show Weiss all of these books to prove her wrong.

Blake’s ear twitched, her body jolted and the book was thrown back onto the bed with little regard for its safety. She would hear some people on their way. Not just anyone, but Jaune and Nora. Whatever they were talking about she wasn’t sure of, but she could recognize their voices clearly. 

“So then Captain Atom smashes through the shield an-” Jaune had to stop his tale in order to process the sight before him. Blake was in his room, hovering over his books, and staring at him like a deer in headlights. 

Her eyes wide, pupils thin as paper, Blake froze up and stared at Jaune with shock and what seemed to be confusion.

In his hands was a black bag with detailing that Blake was quick to recognize. He had just been to Tukson’s Book Trade, and it was likely that Nora had gone there with him. 

“Blake? What are you doing in here? You know your room is like, fifteen feet further down, right?” He tried to smile and laugh it off, but his attempt at humor couldn’t hide how nervous and confused he was. 

Blake couldn’t come up with an answer as to why she was in there. She wanted to ask Jaune a question or two about he had gotten into Beacon, but as she stood there before him, she found that it might have been incredibly rude to ask that. “I was just wondering where you were.” Her voice was soft and meek, as if trying to appease him. It worked in the past with different people, to make herself as small as possible, she saw no reason why it wouldn’t work on him.

“Oh, I went to the Bookstore in Vale.” Little by little, Jaune relaxed, but still found it strange that Blake was just standing in his room without anyone else in there.

“I see.” She pointed at the bag and took a step over to the door. Blake and Jaune circled each other widely, switching places in the room over the course of about a minute. “What did you get?”

Jaune made that nervous laugh of his and looked away. “Oh you know, a book or two, a few comic books.”

“Can I see?” Her reply was quick, pointed, and caught Jaune off guard so badly that he nearly tripped on his own feet and tumbled to the ground. Stumbling to the side, he only barely managed to catch himself. 

It was obvious in his expression and posture that he did not want her to see, but he refused to say that. “Well, you already.. Uh, know the books. You don’t need to see them.”

A shrug was given and Blake took a glance at Nora, who was absolutely confused and had given up on trying to understand the conversation. 

Jaune started up again, setting his bag of books down on his bed and keeping his eyes on Blake as she stood at the doorway to his room. “Just trying to find some ways to impress Weiss, that’s all.”

The two didn’t share words for that seemed to be an eternity. Their eyes wouldn’t leave one another, constantly looking and checking over the other person to make sure they knew where their eyes were at and figuring out what the other was thinking. 

“I suppose… I’ll leave you to it, then.” Blake uttered and bowed curtly. Her exit from the room was just as sudden as Jaune’s entrance, leaving Nora and Jaune to themselves for the time being. 

Nora couldn’t get over how weird the two were. They were all supposed to be friends! None of this crazy snooping and stuff. Then again, Blake wasn’t really the best at going about and sparking up a chummy conversation.

But what was Blake really doing in the room while everyone was gone?


	2. Of Souls and Secrets

Jaune Arc was a curious fellow.

 

In the week following the fateful meeting between Jaune and Blake, the young woman got to know Jaune rather well, yet somehow not at all. She knew about his seven sisters, his mother, his father, and his family’s grand history in fighting in the Great War, but that was all he ever talked about. Nothing about his childhood experiences like Yang and and Ruby seemed to do, nothing about the state of his family while he was away like Weiss happened to do regarding her father and the company she was the heiress to.

There was something so strange about how Jaune talked so much about his family, but so little about himself. Blake never shared any details about her life with the others on her team, preferring to hide from her past among new faces.

She couldn’t help but wonder what had lead Jaune to beacon in the first place. She had never been to the JNPR dorm despite Jaune and his teammates having been to the RWBY dorm once or twice in the last few days. The two teams were starting a strong friendship between one another, but the only one that actually had information readily available on them was Pyrrha.

This was what led Blake to wander into Jaune’s room during his absence. She didn’t know that he wasn’t in there when she had entered, but her curious nature kept her from turning around and waiting for him to come back. She was compelled to find out more about Jaune, Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha.

Her first discovery was that Jaune’s room was almost completely pristine with the exception of his own bed.

 Blake and her teammates had turned their beds notable for being singular alone into bunk beds. Blake had to use some of her poor books to make sure that Yang’s bed could rest above Blakes while also giving Blake enough room to sit up and stretch in her bed. Ruby and Weiss had a more unique setup. Instead of sensibly putting the legs of Ruby’s bed on top of the legs of Weiss’ bed, Ruby thought it was a fantastic idea to suspend her bed from the ceiling. It wasn’t all that straight, and Ruby kept a blanket tent up pinned to the ropes that held her bed up, but they couldn’t be docked points for originality.

The beds sat side by side one another with only a slightly larger space in the middle of the room to divide what she assumed to be the boys’ beds and the girls’ beds, though it could be a different set up. Maybe Nora preferred to sleep next to Ren? She always did seem happier next to him, but without the personal touches like team RWBY had already implemented, it was hard to tell who’s beds were who’s.

The single exception to that was Jaune’s bed, covered in journals that he had written himself. Blake had the chance to look through one of them, finding extensive notes in what she was beginning to know as jaune’s handwriting.

His accidental discovery of her location was something awkward for everyone. Even Nora mentioned how strange it was after Blake quickly exchanged some awkward words with Jaune and departed.

From then on, Blake knew she couldn’t just barge into his room and go through his things to find out what he was about. She wasn’t that kind of person anymore, but it didn’t make her any less curious about Jaune.

 

* * *

 

In the weeks that followed, there was an encounter with Jaune that made a lasting impression in Blake’s mind.

She found him in the Library, her favorite place to hide and do her work in silence. She had seen him a few times in the library, but never like this.

At a table to himself Jaune had himself a small collection of books on Aura and Semblance theory. Scattered about the table, Blake knew that Jaune had read through at least a few of them before she had arrived.

“Is everything okay?” She felt compelled to stride by his table and see what was going on. Blake knew that she was a bit of an amnesiac, but Jaune looked downright exhausted.

His head raised from a book, exposing tired, baggy eyes. His head swayed oh so slightly from side to side, his body threatening to shut down at any moment. “Oh, hey Blake. What’s up?” He gave her a lazy smile as if nothing was wrong at all.

With a finger she spun one of the books on the table around to read the name of it.

“ _ _Aura, souls, and semblances__ , huh?” She tilted her head to the side and kept her eyes on Jaune. The book in his hand was set down. Maybe he needed a break after so much reading. 

It was no secret to Blake that Jaune wasn’t aware of his semblance. Even now, his understanding of Aura itself seemed a little shaky, but he was one of the very many few who didn’t seem to show what their semblance was.

“Yeah.” Jaune sighed. His elbows rested on the table. Jaune set his head into his hands and took a moment to breathe and think. “I’m still not sure what my Semblance is. Pyrrha’s been spotting me when it comes to working out and training, but she says that she doesn’t know when my Semblance with reveal itself.”

Blake could remember the first time she user her semblance, and for a moment her eyes focused a thousand yards out, but she whipped back into reality as Jaune’s head suddenly hit the table and forced him back into consciousness.

“Here!” He shouted suddenly. Blake winced, but said nothing. “I’ve been looking into what kinds of semblances are out there and how people unlocked them, but it’s just kind of wild and all over the place.” It was almost as it he didn’t just pass out on the desk and jolt awake.

Blake, too, knew this to be true. Just like the characters in her books and Jaune’s comics, people far and wide had many difference Semblances and many different tales on how they unlocked these supernatural powers. Some were tied to an emotion, an experience, a desire. Others unlocked them by chance.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how’d you get yours?” At Jaune’s question, Blake couldn’t help but feel compelled to take a seat next to him. That was a much larger question than Jaune probably assumed he was asking. Maybe it was just too obvious that Blake hardly spoke to people outside of her circle of friends, and even less about her own past and history.

“I…” As her amber eyes lowered on the pile of books before her, Blake took a breath to steady herself. She would never forget that night. “I was running. A jog, with a friend. We wanted to race, and I wanted to win so bad that I created an illusion of myself to trick him into taking the wrong route.”

Despite how tired he was, Jaune couldn’t help but look at Blake with wonder and a hint of something else. His brows knitted together while his head tipped forward to pull his shaggy blonde hair over his eyes. “Wow, really?” He looked straight at her and reached for another book. “Well, I hope my semblance is as cool as creating clones. Plus you can use dust with yours, right? That’s way cool!”

His attempt at praise wasn’t lost on Blake despite the dragging of his words. The young woman found herself cracking a small smile at Jaune.

The way he smiled at her reminded her of an age long gone. Peaceful protests and picket lines. The tiger was released from her cage and all hell broke loose. What she wouldn’t give to live in such simplicity again, though Beacon would have to do for now.

“I suppose it is,” There was something about Jaune and Ruby that brightened everyone’s days, something she admired in the both of them. “I’ll let you get back to your work. Remember, Professor Oobleck has a test on Friday. Don’t forget.”

It was a good thing that Blake had reminded Jaune about the test. Without her reminder, he had completely forgotten about it. Despite how much he wanted to keep studying semblances and his own personal work, school came first. Even if his personal goal was to help himself in school.

In the distance, a young Pyrrha Nikos steadied her breath and clutched the book in her hands. Another one of Jaunes notebooks that she had taken the time to clean up and add to. Her eyes locked onto Jaune and Blake talking at his table. Blake was always so quiet and reserved, but Jaune always had a way of bringing out the best in people.

Approaching the two, Pyrrha smiled at them both and took a seat next to Jaune. “Hello!” She chimed in her bright and sunny way. Her head tilted cutely, almost as if it were practiced.

“Hi, Pyrrha.” Blake nodded in return. “I should get going. I hope you discover your semblance.” There was little else that Blake thought she could say to Jaune, not there was much that she wanted to say in the first place. From the corner of her eyes as she spun around to leave she noticed the book that Pyrrha held against her chest almost protectively. Blake was quick to recognize the plain cover of the book and Jaune’s own symbol painted on the front. What could she have been doing with one of his books?

Blake knew that Jaune was working hard with Pyrrha to catch up to everyone else in terms of combat ability, but she always thought that as strange. He was able to get into one of the most elite Huntsman Academies in the world, why did he struggle so much with things he should already know?

 

* * *

 

Blake would have wished that she didn’t ask that question to herself. In the days passing, Jaune had stuck out in her mind once more. Velvet, a timid Faunus student in her second year at the school was being picked on by one of the new bullies of the school, Cardin Winchester. He seemed to have a problem with the Faunus in general, which was made obvious by how he treated the poor girl.

“Hey!” Jaune yelled suddenly, standing from his seat and glaring at Cardin as the much bulkier young man stopping pulling on one of Velvet’s rabbit ears.

Pyrrha, Blake, and everyone else looked at Jaune with shock and surprise. Over the past few days he had been subject to many mean spirited pranks at the hands of Cardin and his team. Just that very morning Cardin had beaten him in combat class after Jaune struggled to get any sort of footing against him.

Letting go of Velvet’s ear, Cardin glared back with equal intensity and marched over to Jaune, looming over him with daggers in his eyes. “Yeah?” He growled.

The small window of confidence had closed on Jaune. Jaune was by no means short, but Cardin towered nearly everyone that he stood next to, including the blonde knight. It didn’t help that Jaune seemed to shrink before Cardin out of fear.

“W-what you did to Velvet…” Jaune stuttered at the start, but forced himself together to look strong for his team and friends. “Wasn’t very cool. You should pick on people, no matter what?”

Cardin growled again, but his gritted teeth quickly shifted into a smirk. “Hey, look everyone! Jaune the cartoon character is trying to give me the lesson of the weak!” With his arms spread wide, Cardin paced back and fourth to draw in people’s attention. “ _ _That wasn’t cool!__ ” He mocked Jaune, pretending to cry while goading Jaune further on. He pressed a finger into Jaune’s chest, invading his personal space as much as he possibly could. “Are you gonna stop me, Jauney-boy? Goodwitch had to bail you out in class, but she can’t protect you here.”

“Back off, Cardin.” Yang was the next to speak. Both teams RWBY and JNPR were standing tall, ready if need be to stand up for and protect their friend Jaune. “If you want trouble, we’ll make trouble. Last I counted, eight is a bigger number than four.”

Cardin glared at each and every one that stood up for Jaune. How they’d let someone so weak into Beacon was beyond him, but it didn’t matter. Cardin would find Jaune and pummel him into next week if he caught him off campus.

With a solid push, Cardin sent Jaune too the ground while he spun around and rejoined his team at their own table. From there, the commotion seemed to die down as everyone else returned to their own conversations.

 

* * *

 

And so began a strange relationship between Cardin and Jaune. Jaune was no longer treated to mean pranks, but any and all of Jaune’s free time was spent catering to Cardin and his team. Jaune barely had enough time to work on his own things to make sure that Cardin and the others would see his work as satisfactory. He was an errand boy to Cardin, doing this and that like a beggar for a piece of gold.

Blake suspected foul play. Something was going on behind the scenes that the two were keeping quiet about. The last straw was Ruby talking to Jaune in the middle of the night in the hallway.

Normally Blake wouldn’t have thought much about it, but not even Pyrrha had seen Jaune all that much after he started to hang out with Cardin.

It was well past curfew when Ruby returned to their room. Blake was still awake, reading a book by candlelight in her bed.

“Was that Jaune?” Blake suddenly spoke. Yang and Weiss were both deep in sleep at this point, and both were notoriously heavy sleepers. She felt no need to speak in whispers to her team leader in a dead quiet building.

“Oh?” Ruby jumped in surprise. “Yeah, that was Jaune. Just having some troubles, you know how he is. I’m sure he’ll work things out.”

“Right.”

Something was wrong, and Blake was going to get to the bottom of it.


	3. Falling into Place

It seemed as if everyone in team RWBY had a job to do. Ruby, as the team leader, constantly had to better herself and grow into the role she was picked for. Yang was going her best to familiarize herself with both Beacon Academy and the City of Vale. Weiss, ever the heiress that she was, fought tooth and nail to prove to everyone that she was more than just the next in line to inherit the family company. Blake was investigating.

  
Well, to say that she was investigating wouldn’t be completely correct. She wanted to investigate the strange partnership between Jaune and Cardin, but school always came before personal matters.

  
The day was taken up solely by a field trip that Professor Goodwitch was chaperoning. Their destination was the forest of Forever Fall to pick up research supplies for another Professor in the school. The location wasn’t too far away from Beacon and Vale, but the required time for the trips back and fourth as well as the time to get the supplies would take up a majority of the school day.

  
“The forest of forever fall is quite beautiful, but we aren’t here to sight see.” Professor Goodwitch marched ahead of the twelve students behind her. “Professor Peach has tasked you all with getting samples of the unique sap found in the trees around here. My job is to make sure none of you get killed while doing so.” 

 

he stopped on a time and spun on her heels. Ruby was walking so closely behind that she nearly ran into the professor, yelping as she stumbled to the side and away.

 

The teams of RWBY and JNPR all had jars in their hands to collect with the sap with. Cardin and his team were notably without jars, which Jaune made up for by carrying six and a large briefcase of some sort.

  
“We’ll regroup at four.” Said the professor, letting the group break up as they so pleased to collect the samples that they needed. As the teams broke off, Cardin made sure to grab onto Jaune’s hood to pull him back, making sure he stayed with Cardin and not go off to his own team.

 

Jaune, though he wanted to be with his team, had no choice but to stay with the bullies. It wasn’t clear if Russel, Dove, and Sky knew about Jaune’s situation, but they still harassed him all the same on Cardin’s command.

  
“Okay, Jauney. You’re going to get us all of that sap, and we’ll hang right here waiting for you to come back. Doesn’t that sound fun?” There was a dangerous edge to Cardin’s voice that promised pain or worse if he didn’t listen. Jaune didn’t bother with a vocal response. He simply nodded and let the suitcase down to go and fill the jars up with sap.

  
Jaune wasn’t the only one who had abandoned their team. Blake had followed Cardin and the others as soon as Professor Goodwitch dismissed them. Her own jar was filled fast enough, which gave her ample time to follow the band of young men to wherever they planned on going.

  
After Cardin dismissed Jaune, the young blonde took the six jars and walked off to go and fill them. Blake couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She knew that Jaune was doing more than a few favors for them, but this was absolutely crossing the line.  
“Jaune?” Blake, after having stalking Jaune for about a minute, made her presence known by speaking behind a tree. Rounding it, she looked at him with concern, as if she hadn’t already seen what was going on. “Why do you have so many jars? Why aren’t you with the rest of your team?”

  
Jaune sighed, saying nothing and only shaking his head.

  
It took a little work, but one of the spigots in the trees turned and let the sap flow freely into one of the jars. Something about the scent of it made Jaune dizzy, but he didn’t dare fail Cardin.

  
“Your team-” Blake took a step forward, her hand reaching out to him with concern.

  
“No.” He bit back quickly, her hand retracting as quickly as he snapped at her. “They don’t deserve a leader like me. They need one like Pyrrha. Just… I need to be alone right now, Blake.”

  
Alone.

  
She understood that pain. Separating yourself from others to spare them the pain in your heart. Not feeling good enough to be around even your own friends. Being forced into a situation you didn’t understand at first.

  
She wouldn’t back away from him. She wouldn’t run. “Tell me what’s going on.” She asked quietly. Though she made little effort to move closer to him specifically, she stepped as close as she could to reach in and grab a jar to help him out. “I can keep a secret, I swear.”

  
Jaune was quiet for several minutes after this. He continued his work silently until all of the Jars but one was filled.

  
“Cardin...” He whispered. “I can’t do anything about it. I just have to go along with what he says.”

  
“He can’t threaten you like this, you have to take it to Prof-”

  
“No!” He nearly shouted this time. “That’s the last person that needs to be involved right now! If word gets out, it’s all over!”

  
Got out? Blake always felt that Jaune seemed a little secretive, even to her, but what could he be hiding that would warrant this much fear from him? Jaune had nothing to worry about. Was it about his family?

  
“Just, just go.” He waved her off as quick as he could to try and calm himself down. “Sorry.” he muttered at her. “I didn’t mean it… You just… I need to solve this problem myself.”

  
She understood. She hated that she understood, but this was what he truly wanted. Once more she inched closer to him, setting a jar of sap down right next to all of the others.

  
Though she left his field of view, she didn’t leave him. Blake watched Jaune from the shadows to find out what was going on. She was quite good at that from her time back with her family.

  
From there she saw everything that came next. Jaune returned to Cardin with with six jars of sap, and Cardin asked the rhetoric of why six jars when there was only five of them. It didn’t take Blake very long to gather that whatever Cardin was planning, it wasn’t anything good.

* * *

  
She followed them on their short walk to a the top of a small hill where the other teams had found themselves collecting their own samples of sap. Nora and Ren seemed to have had a problem with all of their sap suddenly disappearing and a glop of it ending up on Nora’s mouth, but everything seemed to have been going fine. It was here that Blake understood, but she could only watch as Jaune set fourth events that would likely change the rest of the year.

  
“Go on, Jauney boy. Lob it. Give Pyrrha what’s coming to her.” Cardin edged him on, waiting for Jaune to throw the jar of sap at Pyrrha to attract creatures of grim.

  
Jaune’s hand shook, but he didn’t move.

  
“No,” He whispered, just barely loud enough for Cardin to hear him.

  
“What did you say?” Cardin growled and puffed up his chest.

  
“I said no!” Jaune spun around and threw the jar of honey at Cardin’s armored chest, coating it in the sweet sap that Jaune had spend so much time gathering.

  
Blake gasped, but she said nothing. She watched as Sky and Russel grabbed Jaune and dragged him further into the forest. Blake followed carefully. If anything at all happened, she’d step in.

  
The three goons all had their fair share of hits on Jaune before Cardin called them off, leaving the young knight all of Cardin.

  
Cardin stepped up to Jaune and raised him up with a single hand. Jaune squirmed and tried to get himself out of Cardin’s grasp, but to no luck.

  
It was with a solid punch to Jaune’s jaw that something incredible happened. A blinding flash of light appeared where Cardin and Jaune had been standing. The former let go of Jaune to cover her eyes and reel back. Jaune was supposed to have a broken jaw, but it was Cardin who ended up cradling his fist in his other hand due to the pain that his own punch caused him.

  
Growling, Cardin yelled, but was quickly cut off by a much larger sound. Before anyone had time to question it, an Ursa Major broke through the trees and roared again. Jaune scrambled away from Cardin, leaving the bully to fight by himself against the Ursa. Sky, Russel, and Dove all ran for the hills screaming. Surely this would get the attention of the other teams to step in and help out.

 

The Ursa made quick work of Cardin’s mace. The massive bear slapped it out of Cardin’s hands and went for another swipe, but was blocked by the sudden appearance of one Jaune Arc.

  
Underneath the clawed palm of the Ursa was Jaune, holding his shield high and keeping it from slashing Cardin out of existence. Cardin too scrambled away to find his weapon, but didn’t turn back around as he grabbed it. He kept his distance, watching with Blake how Jaune could hold his own against an Ursa.

  
Despite his heroic entrance, Jaune still wasn’t perfect. For every hit that Jaune managed to land or avoid from the Ursa, the Ursa threw Jaune into another tree. However, this didn’t stop him from charging back in.

  
Soon enough, Pyrrha and Ruby joined the group of spectators. Pyrrha pleaded with them to not jump into the fight. Like Blake had been observing, Jaune seemed surprisingly capable despite getting his a few times.

  
Jaune circled around the Ursa enough times to know that he was being watched. He couldn’t back down now. He had to beat the Ursa and save Cardin, save his friends. However, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Blake. His eyes darting, he saw another Blake. The more he dodged and circled, the more copies of his friend he saw. They were all moving around, circling around the fight behind the trees most likely in an attempt to distract the Ursa.

  
He saw another Blake, but their eyes locked. He knew that was the real one. She was standing absolutely still, watching the fight from behind a tree. One moment stretched into a million, and Jaune felt something he had never felt before. It was almost as if they were the only two people in the universe and he could feel her very soul. Blake ran out to him, arms outstretched and crying out a plea that faded out before it hit his ears. Blake tackled Jaune, throwing him to the ground and taking the hit from the Ursa.

  
Blake screamed, but it didn’t come from where Jaune was standing. Shrieking and falling to her knees, Blake was suddenly back behind the trees where she had been the moment before Jaune locked eyes with her.

  
Jaune had little time to process it. Blake had just saved him from a possibly lethal hit. The young man rolled to his feet and charged one final time. His shield raised to deflect the hit from the Ursa. Jaune swept his sword up and beheaded the mighty beast with one clean move. He screamed, releasing all of the pent up anger he had built over the last few days working with Cardin.

  
Jaune ran over to Blake in a hurry. None of them knew what had just happened, but they both experienced it. The look in each others eyes told them everything they needed to know.

  
“Are you okay?” They asked one another at the same time. More than they knew, they were on the same page, which continued to scare the duo. Blake nodded shakily. A stray hand found itself on her back, patting herself down to feel where the Ursa had clawed her, but her outfit was just as pristine as when she had put it on that morning.

  
Jaune returned his focus to Cardin, who had taken a seat after retreating to where Blake and the others were. Jaune offered him a hand and a steely gaze, which Cardin had no choice but to accept.  
“J-” Cardin attempted to speak first, but Jaune cut him off as quickly as he could.

  
“Don’t talk to me, my team, or my friends ever again.” His voice was low and serious, though a slight pant could be heard from his incredible one-on-one with an Ursa Major. “Got it?”  
Cardin didn’t answer, but let go of Jaune’s hand and turned away to regroup with his team.

 

* * *

  
As much as celebrating seemed like the sensible thing to do for Jaune’s first solo victory against a Creature of Grimm, the blonde team leader didn’t quite feel up to it. Maybe another time.

  
For now, Jaune sat by himself on the rooftop.

  
A knocking came to the door to the rooftop as if it were his own dorm. “Yes, Pyrrha?” He had just seen her, but maybe she had more to say after his heartfelt apology for the last few days.

 

But it wasn’t Pyrrha. Blake stepped out from behind the door and approached Jaune. “Oh, uh, hi Blake.”

  
This wasn’t something Jaune could have said he was expecting, but it wasn’t an unwelcome surprise. She seemed just as uncomfortable as he was, and the two stood in moonlit silence for more than a minute before they broke the silence.

  
“Sorry.” They said again at the same time. It was uncanny, almost scary how this happened again in the same day.

  
Jaune took a breath, motioning for Blake to speak first.

  
“I.. I followed you. Cardin has something on you, doesn’t he?” She took a step forward. Both hands were clasped in front of her nervously, writhing together as she sought some form of warmth and comfort.

  
Jaune, eyes wide, went through all of the stages of grief in about two seconds. “Yeah.” He breathed out. “I don’t know if he’s going to tell someone or let it go, but yeah.” Jaune knew that Cardin’s room was just below them, so he made sure to keep his voice low.

  
Silence captured the two again. Blake wanted to ask, Jaune knew she did, but neither had the strength to say anything to the other. Despite this, they were lost in each other’s presence. The outside word faded away once more as the two connected.

  
Minutes passed. Nothing was said. Jaune was the one to speak next.

  
“I’m a lie.” He admitted to her quietly, his face turned away in shame. “I faked my way here. Fake transcripts, I never even went to a combat school. Before coming here, I didn’t know what Aura was, what Semblances did. I barely know how to use my own weapon!” He voice raised, but not in anger. He took a moment to collect himself. He needed it. “But that’s what Cardin has on me. If word gets out, I’m going to be sent back home a failure. I told Ozpin that I wasn’t meant to be a leader.”

  
Blake’s heart stopped. She thought it was bad, but this was on another level entirely. However, she couldn’t help but draw parallels to her own record.

  
“You’re not the only one.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “I promise I won’t say a word, but I think Ozpin knew exactly what he was doing when he made you the leader of your team.” Her warm amber eyes sank into his soul, her smile stopped time. “I saw your jounrals. Nobody else works that hard to prove they’re good enough. But you’re already more than that. You didn’t run. You chased your dream no matter how far away it was, and you put in the effort to hold that dream in your hands.” She didn’t have to say anything else. He knew what she wanted to say. With the shattered moon high in the sky, the two lost track of time up until Jaune yawned with a laugh.

  
It was the first time he had laughed all day. Maybe the rush of the day and the absurdity of it all was finally starting to seem funny to him. Maybe it was hysteria, he wasn’t quite sure.

  
“It’s getting kinda late, and Pyrrha’s been worried about me all day. I should probably get back inside. You, too. He smiled. With a wave of his hand, he stepped towards her and the door. “I’ll figure out whatever happened today. Some really weird stuff happened.”

  
Blake sidestepped, blocking Jaune from proceeding. "That wasn't my semblance. It was, but not how it normally works. I think you altered it somehow, but you're not going to figure it out if you do it alone. You'll need to know the ins and outs of My Semblance too if you want to figure out what yours really does."

  
"Tomorrow, the library? I have training with Pyrrha right after school, but I can text you when that's over and we can get cracking, okay?" Jaune motioned Blake forward, hoping that they could finally do inside with a plan in place. With a nod, they both went back inside to end this long and hectic day.


End file.
